Al-Shādhilī

Al-Shādhilī, in full Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Shādhilī, (born 1196/97, Ghumàra, near Ceuta, Mor.—died 1258, Humaithra, on the Red Sea), Sufi Muslim theologian who was the founder of the order of the Shādhilīyah.

The details of al-Shādhilī’s life are clouded by legend. He is said to have been a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and to have gone blind in his youth because of excessive study. In 1218/19 he traveled to Tunisia, where his Sufi teachings of ascetic mysticism aroused the hostility of the traditional orthodox Muslim theologians. Al-Shādhilī was forced to go into exile in Egypt. He died returning from a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy cities of Arabia. It was while he was in Egypt that he founded the Shādhilīyah order, which was destined to become one of the most popular of the mystical brotherhoods of the Middle East and North Africa and from which 15 other orders derive their origin.

Although al-Shādhilī left no writings, certain sayings and some poetry have been preserved by his disciples.